2012 (Pink Vinyl)

MUKIMUKIMANMANSU, or MUKMAN for short, were a duo formed in the May of 2011 by two students at Korea National University of Arts. The unit was put together in a rush for a school film club’s music festival. Within just three days, they managed to create two self-written songs. Footage of their first live performance was posted on YouTube, bringing the band to wider attention. While the bare-bones ensemble simply includes an acoustic guitar by Mansu and Muki on the ‘gu-jang-gu-jang’ (a jang-gu, which is a traditional Korean drum, modded for vertical play), Mansu’s uncanny songwriting and Muki’s sheer expressiveness made for a compelling sound, making their 2012 debut album a sensation upon release. The jarringly dissonant acoustic punk, somewhat reminiscent of the Raincoats or the Violent Femmes (though neither member has actually made mention of this), came together with lyrical folk melodies to create something truly unique. The debut album was produced by Dalpalan, one of Korea’s fo